Lyon, September 2017 Container Glass Forming in 2020/2025 The dark factory
Lyon, September 2017
Container Glass Forming in 2020/2025
The dark factory
• 1994 JD / CTI / RUG / Glass
• 1999 Foundation XPAR Vision
• Focus on container glass industry
• Focus on hot end production process
• Inspection, process monitoring
• Sensors, automation, robots process improvement & quality control
> 20 years track record of innovating the glass production
process
XPAR Vision foundation and focus
• A dark factory is a fully automated shop floor
• Smart Manufacturing / Industry 4.0
The dark factory
Container Glass Forming in 2020/2025
The dark factory
Main drivers: cost, quality, labour
• Efficiency low: 85-90%
• Quality to customer < 100%
• Many unknown variables
• No/slow (quality) feedback
loop
• Forming highly human
dependent
• Labour is aging
• Health/safety is a concern
• Flexibility is low
• Containers are too heavy
(40%)
• Speed of production too low
Su
stain
ab
ilit
y
•En
vir
on
men
tal (w
ast
e/e
nerg
y/c
arb
on
)
•So
cial (lab
ou
r co
nd
itio
ns)
• Plastic, Aluminium, PET
• Cheap, flexible, light
Energy
Material
Labour
Cost Characteristics Alternatives
Main drivers: cost, quality, labour
Containers are (designed to be) too heavy
The level of (forming) process control is (very) low: efficiency
and weight!!
Example:
Beer bottle, customer spec. = min.
thickness shoulder/body/heel 1
mm.
Beer bottle, design spec. = 1.8-1.9
mm thickness
Process stability is the key towards optimization
Source: Prof. Dr.-Ing. H. Hessenkemper, Glas- und Emailtechnik (TU Bergakademie Freiberg)
Process stability is the key
Container glass forming: variation all over
• Cullet
• Batch/homogenity
• Viscosity/temperature
/homogenity
• Feeder pull
• Ambient temperature
• Deterioration/wear
• Material change
• Operator change
• Stop/start
• Swabbing
• Gob condition
(weight/shape/temperature)
variation
• Loading variation
• Temperature variation
• Bottle variation/defects
Process stability requires automation (and thus sensors)
Focus on hot end forming
1927….2000: No real time factual information on forming
process and bottle quality in hot end
More focus on HE pack than on HE quality
Huge savings potential!
Focus on hot end forming
Lighter and stronger containers.....
produced with (almost) zero defects…..
with minimal human dependency.
at higher speed….
Deflector
• Normally a coating is used in the
deflector
• This coating wears out after a while
and more and more friction will
appear in this area
• When the gob meets more friction it
will start to deform:
• Shorter lenght
• Increased diameter
• Shape deviation (from cylindrical)
• Decreased speed
• More defects are the result
Example process variation: deterioration and wear
Gob Assist: cavity 3 M, 15-07 00:15
Due to higher
friction in
delivery
Example process variation: deterioration and wear
Deflector: gob changes
…but length, shape and
diameter can be different
when loading into the
blank…
At gob cut shape of gobs
might look equal…
…due to friction in the
delivery system
Example process variation: deterioration and wear
IR-D: cavity 3 M, 15-07 00:15
Example process variation: deterioration and wear
The sensor GA sees the gob condition changing.
An automated lubrication of deflector would prevent this from happening.
More consistency/predictability would be the result.
Automation: Vertical Glass Distribution
From uncontrolled to controlled glass distribution
The sensor IR sees the glass distribution changing. Operator will not act upon
it as the bottle still within customer specification.
With an automated algorithm it is very easy to optimize/control the
glass distribution. The bottle will be stronger and potential for weight
decrease is huge.
Automation: Vertical Glass Distribution
The impact of automation is huge
Automation: impact
The variation of glass thickness (glass distribution) reduces!
Required step to
realise
weight reduction
What is available today?
Sensors and automation
Bottle/cavity variations
- Inspection
- Container geometry
- Glass distribution
- Position on belt/stuckware/downware
Gob loading variations
- Speed/Lenght
- Time of arrival
- Position
- Orientation/shape/falling angle
Temperature variations
- Mould
- Plunger/neckring
- Parison
Gob Forming
- Temperature/shape
- Weight
Gob weight control
Ware spacing control
Mould temperature control
(Plunger) process control
Vertical glass distribution control
Sensors Automation
Reduce human dependency
Besides sensors and automation robotics is critical step towards the
dark factory
• Sensors, automation and robotics will
replace (most) functions of the hot end
operator
• Leading to much better output
• Reducing the operational costs (TCO)
Swab blank side 30%
Swab blow side 20%
Quality control 13%
Defect correction /
adjust machine
11%
Check info system
7%
Mold change 6%
Measure weight
5%
Adjust weight 4%
Make spare swab
2%
Fill swab oil 1%
Make swab 1%
Time distribution tasks hot end operator
Huge savings potential!
Focus on hot end forming
Lighter and stronger containers…..
produced with (almost) zero defects…..
at higher speed…..
with minimal human dependency.
Next steps
Hot end forming 2020/2025: Smart Manufacturing / Industry 4.0
• More / better sensors, automated control loops,
robot functions
• Integration of systems (=data)
• Smart use of data
Hot end forming 2020/2025: Smart Manufacturing / Industry 4.0
The dark factory
• Economical aspects
• Human/labour/safety
• Cooperation within the
industry
Join us
Thank you for your attention